It probably doesn’t make the most sense lore-wise, but the Raven Clan outfit does look pretty good. Yakumo is the newest playable character and star of Ninja Gaiden 4, on a mission to defeat the Dark Dragon. That runs against what Ryu Hayabusa and the Divine Dragon Order want, though, so conflict is inevitable. Of course, Ryu is still playable throughout more of the game than many would think.

Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s also playable on day one for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, with pre-loading now available. As for Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, it’s playable on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and offers one of the better retro throwbacks in gaming. Check out our review here.

Developed by The Game Kitchen and published by Dotemu, Ragebound follows a new shinobi of the Hayabusa clan, Kenji Mozu. Following an attack on the village and a run-in with Kumori of the rival Black Spider Clan, the two team up to prevent the Demon Lord’s revival.

Similar to the pre-3D Ninja Gaiden titles, this is a 2D side-scrolling action platformer with plenty of challenging foes and jumps. It also packs new mechanics like Hypercharge for breaking through obstacles and tanky foes, and at some points, you swap to Kumori to traverse timed sections to open the way forward.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. If you’re still hankering for more from the series, Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out over an hour’s worth of new gameplay here.

In a twist from previous games, 2D and 3D, you don’t control Ryu Hayabusa. Instead, Kenji Mozu, a young upstart, is the star. After an attack on Hayabusa and hearing their plans to resurrect the Demon Lord, Kenji sets out to stop them, venturing into the hornet’s nest with little caution. Parallel to all of this is Kumori of the Black Spider Clan, whose headquarters were ambushed by the same demons during a meeting between the higher-ups. She’s also sent out to meet the demons but to forcefully broker a deal and capture the Demon Lord using the Tamashi Kunai.

Naturally, things go terribly for both of them, and the two mortal enemies are forced to fuse their souls to survive. It should be noted throughout all of this that Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound offers some surprisingly good writing and pacing to carry the plot (for this genre, at least). Both Kenji and Kumori straddle a fine line between confidence and arrogance, which is reflected well in their dialogue.

"Of course, this can become a more challenging endeavor when juggling two different Hypercharged states. Due to their predicament, players essentially run around as Kenji, hacking and slashing foes with a blade as per usual, but can also utilize Kumori’s abilities with enough Ki."

I wouldn’t have expected to praise a Ninja Gaiden title for its narrative or characterization, but I took a liking to both protagonists pretty much immediately. Despite the relatively straightforward nature of the story, the inherent tension between them makes for some fun banter (and a bit of mystery on how their situation could be resolved). There is a bit of ridiculousness involved, like random run-ins with the military, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary for Ninja Gaiden.

Of course, at its core, Ragebound is a challenging side-scrolling hack-and-slash platformer. You’re still running through some gorgeous retro-style environments, slaying enemies, and usually facing off against a boss before progressing to the next stage. Both characters possess some sleek mobility options, including the ability to kick off enemies and projectiles using the Guillotine Boost, dealing a bit of damage but mostly extending their air time (which can be useful for crossing perilous gaps).

The other core mechanic is the Hypercharged Strike. By defeating certain foes or sacrificing a portion of their health, Kenji and Kumori can unleash powerful melee or ranged attacks. These are essential for defeating tankier enemies with a single slice and maintaining momentum. However, there’s a bit of resource management and guesswork involved. Will you wait for a specific enemy to show up and die so you can enter the Hypercharged state, or sacrifice some health to push forward? The fact that Hypercharged Strikes can stagger bosses, opening them for a hefty helping of slashes and kunai (and thus shortening the overall length of the fight), lends an extra layer of strategy.

Of course, this can become a more challenging endeavor when juggling two different Hypercharged states. Due to their predicament, players essentially run around as Kenji, hacking and slashing foes with a blade as per usual, but can also utilize Kumori’s abilities with enough Ki. These include Kama, which passes through walls to defeat enemies and kunai, which you can aim in any direction. Defeat a red charged enemy to Hypercharge the Spider Weapons or a melee strike to Hypercharge Kenji’s attacks.

"Any seasoned action platformer player won’t find too much difficulty with Ragebound. Which isn’t to say it’s not worth your time. Once you’re in the groove, seamlessly platforming and annihilating enemies before they even know what’s happening, it’s incredibly fun."

You would think this could dull the overall pacing, but once you learn enemy placement and spawns, it becomes as second nature as platforming and slashing. Of course, there are specific sections in levels where you’ll directly control Kumori, venturing through an alternate dimension to open the way forward. These sections are on a timer, and though there are items to help extend this, it can be a bit of trial and error to find the right path and properly platform through, almost like a microcosm of the levels at large.

Despite the relative “newness” of all this compared to the old-school Ninja Gaiden, it’s still in keeping with the series’ punishing gameplay, especially since a single drop into deadly terrain means a return trip to the nearest checkpoint. Once you have a rhythm for a level’s layout and enemies, however, the overall difficulty doesn’t feel nearly as oppressive.

The presence of Talismans, which provide game-changing effects like slight healthy recovery upon slaying enemies above a certain combo score, certainly helps in that regard. But even the boss fights didn’t require too many retries. I also found some level design elements to be a little repetitive at times, especially when it came to platforming. The Game Kitchen does a decent job of mixing things up, throwing in a sudden ambush of enemies or a boss chasing you while destroying the flooring. However, despite completely different locations, that feeling of platforming deja vu would crop up more than not. The side areas also couldn’t use a bit more work to make them shine beyond pursuing collectibles.

On top of clearing a level, there are optional challenges available, like not getting hit or slaying a certain number of enemies with Guillotine Boosts, to incentivize perfection (not to mention collecting Crystal Skulls and Golden Scarabs). But any seasoned action platformer player won’t find too much difficulty with Ragebound. Which isn’t to say it’s not worth your time. Once you’re in the groove, seamlessly platforming and annihilating enemies before they even know what’s happening, it’s incredibly fun.

"The sprite work for both characters and environments looks great, and the animations of enemies, bosses, and the protagonists flow extremely well, and even the scenes between levels look extremely sharp."

Significant praise must be given to the controls, which feel seamlessly responsive. I didn’t face a single point where my actions didn’t feel like my own, though, of course, in that respect, every mistake is completely on me. For those who find the difficulty a little too extreme, some accessibility options are available, like reducing incoming damage and game speed, extending the Hypercharged state, and even increasing the size of the Guillotine Boost to make platforming that much less punishing.

While the visuals won’t necessarily be deemed as the most visually cutting edge, they’re simply gorgeous from a 2D standpoint. The sprite work for both characters and environments looks great, and the animations of enemies, bosses, and the protagonists flow extremely well, and even the scenes between levels look extremely sharp. I also appreciated the little animated highlights when defeating bosses, adding even more panache to the kill. Further enhancing the mood is the music, which captures the 80s vibe of the original games but with much fuller instrumentation. From the main menu to downtime at Muramasa’s shop, each track feels lovingly crafted to pay homage to the classics while remaining catchy in their own right.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound won’t necessarily break the mold when it comes to side-scrollers, but it doesn’t have to. It’s a well-made, contemporary tribute to the classics that also channels their gameplay loop to deliver a new story with sleek new mechanics and challenges while providing plenty of optional goals to keep you coming back.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Where it fits, chronologically

Cast your mind back, if you can, to 1988. Ryu Hayabusa, learning of his father’s death, journeys to a retro-future United States on a quest for bloody vengeance. Whilst he’s whipping katanas Stateside during the events of Ninja Gaiden I through III he’s left Hayabusa Village in the lurch; a mysterious portal opened the very night Ryu left, with demons pouring out into the world. With Ryu preoccupied, his disciple Kenji Mozu – Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s protagonist – steps up to protect the village from ransacking demonic threat. The unfolding events in Ragebound then, it seems, take place chronologically alongside Ryu’s exploits in 1988’s Ninja Gaiden.

There is a prologue

Getting players up to speed before beginning Ragebound’s story is a playable prologue whereby command of Ryu’s father is served, as is his death. Ninja Gaiden, as a series, trail-blazed between-level cutscenes; cinematography, like 1988’s original intro scene with Ryu Hayabusa’s father in spectacular duel, hadn’t been seen in video games to this degree before. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound allows players to experience these moments in-game, the events leading up to Hayabusa senior’s death and Hayabusa junior’s subsequent abscondment.

Extreme difficulty

A huge part of Ninja Gaiden’s legacy – in arcades, on the NES, it’s turn-of-the-century 3D departures – is its brutal difficulty. 8-bit and 16-bit sidescollers, especially, were punishing in their challenge, demanding surgically precise timing to slice through encounters. These skills, perhaps, might be lost on modern gamers but should your dexterity be up for it Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound ships with an extreme difficulty mode, unlockable once levels are completed.

Base difficulty not too challenging

Make no mistake, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound won’t be an easy game to complete but, in keeping with the title’s ethos, it combines the series’ infamous challenge with modernisation via snappy controls and tight level design. Ragebound’s fluid action is intuitive. As a result, any mistakes made will be due to player error, such is the game’s responsiveness. Once level layouts are memorised and timings are committed to muscle memory, even gamers with modest skills will be able to avoid feeling overly punished.

Gameplay and combat design

Progression in Ragebound is structured in traditional levels, the completion of which demands a combination of perfect platforming and precise combat. Upon finishing levels players are graded on the time it’s taken to complete, number of kills, and the ‘style’ in which they killed; using combos, powerups, that sort of thing.

The challenge of combat doesn’t take the form of ‘more hits equals higher difficulty’. No, more often than not enemies in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound can be taken out with a single katana slice or kunai throw. Combat designed any other way would give the impression Kenji needs to spend time sharpening his blades. He’s a pupil of Ryu’s, sure, but his gear is up to the task. So, yes, whilst every enemy can be killed in single swipes, the difficulty curves upward via demand for surgical timing and sheer enemy number. Further challenge comes in the form of the enemy’s glowing auras which suggest – not dictate – which weapon they should be killed with. Blue auras denote katana kills, whilst purple auras indicate kunai ranged attacks. Again, enemies can be killed whichever way you like but match the weapon to the aura colour and a Hypercharge powerup attack becomes available. We’ll explain Hypercharge in detail via its own entry next.

Hypercharge

Remember Ragebound’s enemies we said can be killed in one hit? Well, that’s not entirely true of them all. Some of Kenji’s opposition present sterner tests, but he’s got a trick up his ninja sleeve – Hypercharge. He can, at a pinch, absorb some of his own health to reach Hypercharge state, but the most effective way is to slay enemies in tune with the colour of their aura. For a few seconds after that, Kenji can unleash a more devastating attack capable of knocking down tougher enemies. On screens with multiple enemy types, rapid-fire skill comes into play; a balletic puzzle of aura kills to larger enemies, slicing them all down in single strikes.

Two playable characters

Kenji isn’t the only character Ragebound players can take command of. Intertwining at some point during Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s story is Kumori, member of Hayabusa rivals the Black Spider Clan who despite being ideologically opposed shares Kenji’s fate. The pair work together; as a spector, Kumori has access to an underworld in which she can traverse in ways Kenji can’t. Lobbing teleporting kunai, for instance. Her inclusions are ostensibly time-based puzzling platforms, opening up new throughways for Kenji to progress. She does bequeath Kenji with some new toys too; a throwing sickle and screen clearing Ragebound Arts.

Guillotine Boost

This new mechanic ensures Ragebound’s gameplay fluidity, once its flow has been mastered that is. Guillotine Boost is, essentially, a mid-air bounce off anything that happens to be, well, in the air (or beneath Kenji as he’s about to land). Enemy heads, projectiles, certain enemy attacks, environmental apparatus and obstacles, Kenji can effectively use anything to keep himself airborne. Guillotine Boosts can be chained together to reach previously out of reach places or, as we’re seeing in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s gameplay shared thus far, to maintain an aqueous rhythm to combat, using in tandem with aura kills and Hypercharge to breeze through levels without interruption.

Replaying levels is rewarding

Side-scrolling action which channels the spirit of its original trilogy, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound turns mostly-linear design into strength. Firstly, the act of replaying levels – memorising enemy patterns, growing knowledgeable on level design, chasing higher scores and quicker finish times – is in itself a reward for repeated level playthroughs. There are collectibles in wait too, however. Straying Kenji or Kumori slightly off path could present a platforming puzzle or cool collectible or, even, currency which can be collected and spent at Muramasa’s shop.

Platforms, release date, price

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is coming to past and current PlayStation and Xbox consoles, plus Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on July 31st. Whilst digital pricing is not confirmed at the time of this feature’s creation, if we take the price of newly announced physical releases into consideration fans can expect to pay £34.99 / $39.99 for the base game. Those just-mentioned physical releases are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, with a more expensive special edition available for pre-order. Priced at £59.99 / $69.99, the special edition comes with a cloth map, four metal pins, double-sided medal, poster, and collector’s box, and will be released on September 12th. Presently, a physical Xbox edition isn’t incoming, nor is a release on Nintendo Switch 2.

No plans for DLC

Currently, there are no DLC plans announced. It can’t be ruled out, however.

PC requirements

To run Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound on your PC, at a minimum you will need an Intel Core Duo E8300 or AMD Phenom II X2 550 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 or AMD Radeon HD 4550, both 1GB, GPU. Recommended specs, which the game’s Steam listing confirms as required to run the game at 60FPS 1080p include Intel Core Quad Q8300 or AMD Phenom II X3 710 processor, and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 4GB or AMD Radeon R7 250 2GB GPU. Whether minimum or recommended, you’ll need at least 6GB RAM.

Ragebound is developed by The Game Kitchen (known for the Blasphemous series) and stars a new Hayabusa Village ninja, Kenji. After demons invade following Ryu’s absence, the newcomer must meet them head-on. Such is the threat that he works with Kumori of the antagonistic Black Spider Clan, who serves as a second playable character.

Besides the 8-bit visuals, it’s confirmed that Keiji Yamagishi, Kaori Nakabai and Ryuichi Niita, who composed the original NES trilogy, have contributed to the soundtrack. A free demo will also be available on June 9th for PC as part of Steam Next Fest for fans to go hands-on.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

A new gameplay trailer is now available, revealing a second playable protagonist in Kumori. Interestingly enough, she’s a member of the villainous Black Spider Clan, who served as enemies in Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Just as capable with modern weapons and equipment as she is with more traditional ninjutsu methods, Kumori will share the spotlight with co-protagonist Kenji.

Check out the trailer below. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is due out sometime this summer for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

Developed by The Game Kitchen of Blasphemous fame, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound sees Ryu Hayabusa venturing to America as demons suddenly invade the human world. Fortunately, he won’t be alone as newcomer Kenji Mozu joins the fray to help.

Combat looks delightfully fast-paced, with both characters able to slash enemies to pieces on the ground and mid-air (even resetting jumps in the process. Of course, there are some overwhelming bosses to overcome as well, including a monstrous demon bat creature.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound launches in Summer 2025 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details and gameplay in the coming months.

Blasphemous 2 Collector’s Edition will include a Steelbook case with exclusive art, a game manual created by the developers with a thank you letter from the studio, a Marca del Martitio metal coin, three art cards with new illustrations, two CDs of the game’s music encased in a collector’s CD case, a code to download the digital soundtrack of the game, a game guide with more than 60 pages of lore about Blasphemous, an album of illustrations, and a certificate of authenticity. All of this will be housed in a premium collector’s box.

The game was released on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch back in August, with a release on PS4 and Xbox One coming in later in November. Blasphemous 2 puts players in the shoes of the Penitent One as he finds himself in a creepy new location and must once again pick up his weapons to try and find answers to the game’s lingering mysteries.

Celebrating the Xbox One and PS4 release for Blasphemous 2 is a new launch trailer showing off some more of the game’s gorgeously grotesque pixel art style and fast-paced gameplay inspired in equal parts by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and FromSoftware’s Souls titles.

Blasphemous 2 puts players in the shoes of the Penitent One once more, picking up directly after the events of the original game’s Wounds of Eventide DLC. The Heart in the Sky has heralded the return of The Miracle, and it’s up to the Penitent One to find answers as he is once again stuck in an endless cycle of life and death.

The game features a host of new enemy types, along with new boss fight that have been just as intricately designed as the fights in its predecessors.

Blasphemous 2 features the return of the protagonist from the original Blasphemous—The Penitent One. The sequel’s story is set to continue from where things left off at the end of the Wounds of Eventide DLC for the original game.

The Penitent One will find himself in a stange new land as he is once again trapped in an endless cycle of life, death, and resurrection. The Penitent One will have to explore the strange new world and fight off its denizens to try and return to his final resting place.

Blasphemous 2 will feature a host of new enemies, as well as intricate new bsoses to fight. The game will also feature a new skill set that can be further customised, along with new unique weapons to wield.

Blasphemous 2 doesn’t yet have a solid release date aside from a Summer 2023 release window. It is slated to come out on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.